Peggy Peck

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- The FDA has added a boxed warning to the litany of cautions about the use of entacavir (Baraclude), a hepatitis B drug, for certain patients co-infected with HIV.

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- The makers of rosglitazone (Avandia) and pioglitazone (Actos), have agreed to add a black box warning to the type 2 diabetes drugs' labels about an increased risk of heart failure, the FDA said today.

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- The FDA has warned consumers against using three brands of red yeast rice, a product marketed as a natural remedy for high cholesterol, because they may contain lovastatin, the active ingredient in Mevacor.

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- Raw oyster harvested from a bed off the coast of Washington State have been linked to six reports of Vibrio parahaemolyticus illness, prompting an FDA warning.

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- For the second time in as many weeks, the FDA has issued a botulism toxin warning; this time the product is 14.5 ounce cans of French cut green beans manufactured by a Wisconsin food processor.

GAITHERSBURG, Md. -- FDA advisers have recommended approval of the problem-ridden multiple sclerosis drug natalizumab (Tysabri) for treatment of moderate to severe Crohn's disease, but only with extensive safety monitoring.

Gaithersburg, Md. -- By a vote of 20 to three a group of FDA advisers found evidence that rosiglitazone (Avandia), the popular oral anti-diabetes drug, increases the risk of myocardial infarction. But the same advisers said the drug should stay on the market.

ROCKVILLE, Md. - An FDA advisory panel has recommended that the agency approve raloxifene (Evista) for prevention of breast cancer in high-risk postmenopausal women.

NEW ORLEANS -- Almost two years after Hurricane Katrina ravaged this city, a grand jury here refused to indict Anna M. Pou, M.D., in the deaths of four elderly patients at Memorial Medical Center.

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- The old guard in medical education who predicted that shortened work hours for residents would lead to shoddy training of young physicians are claiming vindication.

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- Based on botulism toxin tests at an Augusta, Ga., food processing plant, the FDA has expanded its warning about chili dog sauce to include 10 canned sauces and four pet food products.

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- Based on botulism toxin tests at an Augusta, Ga., food processing plant, the FDA has expanded its warning about chili dog sauce to include 10 canned sauces and four pet food products.

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- The FDA has approved a stainless steel artificial cervical disc for treatment of cervical degenerative disc disease.

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- The FDA has approved GeneSearch BLN assay, a rapid molecular-based assay for detecting node-positive breast cancer.

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- The FDA has approved a bifocal LASIK approach in which one eye will be treated for myopia and the other presbyopia.

BOSTON -- The FDA has okayed use of a strap-on robotic arm to help restore function to an upper-extremity disabled by a stroke, according to the manufacturer.

EAST HANOVER, N.J. -- The FDA has approved a rivastigmine transdermal patch for mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease, Novartis announced here.

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- Calcium and ceftriaxone (Rocephin) are a dangerous combination that can increase the risk of lethal precipitates forming in the lungs and kidneys of infants, according to the FDA.

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- The death of cystic fibrosis patient had led the FDA to alert physicians about the risk of prescribing premixed colistimethate for inhalation with a nebulizer.

CHICAGO -- The American Medical Association wants third-party payers to put the brakes on pay-for-performance initiatives until there is evidence that such plans benefit patients.

CHICAGO -- After a brief upward spike, the AMA's membership is shrinking again.

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- The FDA has approved pregabalin (Lyrica) for the treatment of fibromyalgia, making it the first drug to earn this indication.

BALTIMORE -- Most of the 5,000 hospitals that care for Medicare patients meet the national average for 30-day mortality from MI or heart failure, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) data show.

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- The FDA has approved ambrisentan (Letairis), an endothelin receptor antagonist, for treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH).

WASHINGTON -- The worldwide prevalence of Alzheimer's disease, estimated at 26.6 million patients, may quadruple by 2050, according to a mathematical model.

CHICAGO -- The success of targeted therapies in lung cancer depends not only on identifying the correct molecular target, but also on targeting patients who are likely responders, oncologists here said.

KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa. -- Despite reports linking rosiglitazone (Avandia) to increased risk of cardiac events, the data safety monitoring boards assessing that risk in three studies of the drug agreed that the trials should continue.

ROCKVILLE, Md., May 29 -- A possible parasitic contamination of a solution for soft contact lens wearers has triggered a national recall.

CLEVELAND, May 25 -- Steven E. Nissen, M.D., a cardiologist best known for exposing heart risks in the medicine chest, has a message for the pharmaceutical industry, "I'm not anti-drug."

WASHINGTON -- The FDA should be given the authority to regulate tobacco as an addictive drug, including marketing, advertising, and, eventually, the right to regulate nicotine content, said an Institute of Medicine report issued today.